Well, I shouldn't have posted about the great case I had because all last
week we had difficult babies and moms. My magic wand apparently broke. For
all who emailed and asked if they can copy the post about my great case, I am
honored and you are certainly welcome to use it.
Friday I saw the most horrible case of engorgement in my whole history of
consulting. She was 4 days postpartum, an Hispanic mom who was waiting on her
milk to come in before nursing and until then was going to use bottles. She
was in the Emergency Dept, engorged under her arms, up to her collarbones
with shiney taunt skin. It was slowly turning purple and she was starting to
run a temp. The OB/Gyn, ED MD, PA, and 3 nurses kept coming in to ask me what
I was going to do (why me?), at which time they would grimace and say they
had never seen anything like it and walk out!
They also were surveying the entire staff as to what was best, warm
compresses or ice packs.  It ran about 50-50 for warm and cold. We tried
both. We tried an electric pump and a manuel pump. She had been told about
cabbage while in the hospital  and had slept in those the night befoer this
(she was engorged by day 2). Nothing I did worked. I spent almost 4 hrs with
her. She had left the baby with a neighbor and had to leave the hospital
finally so the neighbor could go to work. All weekend I have been worried
about her. She left with a prescription for an antiobiotic, Tylenol and a
manuel pump with instructions for ice packs also.
Does anyone have the magic wand that may have worked in this case?

Barb Whitehead, BS, IBCLC
Eastern NC

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